Anticorrosion coatings are crucial for practical applications of magnesium alloys, which are used to reduce the weight of vehicles, aircraft, electronics enclosures etc. Hydroxyapatite ( HAp) potentially offers high corrosion resistance and no environmental toxicity because its thermodynamic structural stability is high and it is a basic component of bone. However, direct synthesis of HAp on magnesium in aqueous solutions has been a scientific challenge because Mg ions prevent HAp crystallization. A new method of direct synthesis of HAp on magnesium was developed using a Ca chelate compound, which can maintain a sufficiently high concentration of Ca ions on the magnesium surface to overcome prevention of HAp crystallization with Mg ions. Highly crystallized HAp coatings were successfully formed on pure magnesium and AZ series alloys. Corrosion behavior of HAp-coated pure magnesium was examined by cyclic dry and wet tests with 1 gm(-2) NaCl on the surface and polarization tests in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. A HAp-coated pure magnesium showed no noticeable corrosion pits after the dry and wet test. HAp-coated specimens showed 10(3)-10(4) times lower anodic current density than as-polished specimen in the polarization test. The results demonstrate the remarkable anticorrosion performance of HAp coatings on magnesium for the first time. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.